On William Bouguereau (1825-1905)
I ‘discovered’ this French artist, William Adolphe Bouguereau
who lived from 1825 to the twentieth century.
His life’s work, I am pretty certain, few of you will know
though his paintings hang today in every major gallery.
A leading portrait painter in his time, he best is known
for the beauty, grace and texture of his nudes.
In the last half-century his works have come into their own
after long neglect by prim Victorian prudes.
Of his quite prodigious output of 800 works or more,
Some few of which (at auction) for enormous prices sell,
I have chosen as a representative selection, four
and I hope you will appreciate the verse I’ve penned as well.
Through his artistry, his various subjects’ inner souls one sees
which inspired the random thoughts expressed in these four fantasises:
Hugh Wyles, August 8th. 2008.
Author notes
This is my introduction to a quartet of fantasy-sonnets inspired by paintings
of William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905). Now recognised as one
of the most important painters of his time, his portrayal of human form,
(particularly the skin tones) and ability to capture grace of movement and
the spiritual essence of his subjects, has been excelled by no other artist.
One of his paintings “Charite” which had commanded a price of $500 in 1950,
sold at Christies in 2000 for more than $US 3,600,000.
He completed 826 paintings, half of them life-size.
These are the links to the pictures and poems:
No.1: http://allpoetry.com/poem/4496981
No.2: http://allpoetry.com/poem/4497025
No.3: http://allpoetry.com/poem/4497059
No.4: http://allpoetry.com/poem/4497081
In a list
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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I have fallen off the train,
spent the night painting!
And when I get back on,
blow the whistle,
for Hugh's on a roll!!!
Anticipating the trip!
M-C
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excellent~
Have never heard of this person before until now....
I can't believe that one painting sold for 3.6 billon dollars....I could buy myself a new home a new car a boat horses...dogs I could breed...some birds that talk and help out other people as well and send some to the Cancer Research and Humane Society as well as a few other groups....ummmm gotta forgive it's getting late and me is
Love the sonnet...if I don't see it up when I first log on be sure to send a new IM that another one is up
Great intro da...
Loved this
Hugs
Susan~~~~
Come on over to Ky it's a balmy 88 degree's here tonight
and 
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Slow down with all those fantasy things, let a guy catch up! You're up to four already!
Ah, now I get it. A sonnet with each painting, how cool. Ok, I finished this one. Four to go.
Nope, never heard of him. Never saw the nudes before either. Is this one a self-portrait?
3.6 million dollars! Holy Moly, Mariza mentioned a book to me yesterday that was going for 4500 or so and I thought that was a lot! 3.6 million would buy a lot of Moxies! Ok, not to whine but if he did 826 paintings it seems the laws of supply and demand would suggest a lower total on that 3.6 one. I think someone got ripped off.
Ignore me. Future comments will be less silly.
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Dear Hugh,
I am looking forward to reading your poems and viewing the beautiful paintings that William Bouguereau created.
I think it's a great idea to post this introduction before posting the poems that I will be checking out first thing when I wake up in the morning.
A wonderful poem my dear friend.
Love Bea
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